Cheery the Monster Amigurumi Crochet Pattern Giveaway

Say hello to Cheery the Monster!

Isn't she the cutest thing ever! ?

And you have the chance to win her pattern for free! Just enter to win on my Denver Whimsy Instagram page where you see this picture posted. 

To enter, all you have to do is follow me (@denverwhimsy) on Instagram and tag a crafty friend in the comments under this picture. That's it! You are allowed to tag more than one friend for multiple entries into the giveaway. The contest runs through July 13, 2015.

Head on over to Instagram and have some fun!

P.S. Don't worry if you don't win, I'll be releasing the pattern for sale on Tuesday, July 14 and you'll have the chance to grab it for just $5.

Rammer Amigurumi Crochet Pattern

Rammer makes a great gift for a happy, fun-loving kid. You can customize the color scheme to coordinate with a monster-themed nursery. Or you can choose the colors of a kid's favorite sports team to make your monster special.

My Inspiration
I chose to make Rammer yellow and green because I wanted to use up some scrap yarn from my stash. He only requires 49 yards of the yellow and 39 yards of the green, so he's a great stash buster!

Making Rammer's belly. I had seen a video on Craftsy (the Mix 'n Match Hats class, which I highly recommend) that showed how to do colorwork in the round, and I wanted to try that out on a monster. Making his belly took a little fiddling. I had to frog it the first time because I pulled the stitches way too tight and it gave him an hourglass figure! LOL. 

So, my tip for you for this pattern: Be careful to control your tension while you do the color changes on Rammer's middle. If it looks tighter than the upper part of his body, then you can pull it out and try again, but hold the yarn looser.

Through May 22, 2015, you can use the coupon code RAMMER for 50% off the pattern when you buy from my pattern shop!

Get the pattern now!

Triple Stripe Beanie Crochet Pattern

After years of trial and error, I’ve finally figured out how to crochet near perfect stripes. Now, I hope you can too! This beanie is not crocheted in the round, but instead it is crocheted in joined rounds. That way, the stripes are much smoother and the seam is practically invisible.

Change up the colors and make it your own by substituting any bulky weight yarn that you prefer. I hope you love this pattern as much as I do!

Click here to get the pattern!

Crochet Problem Solving = Q-Tip Holder

I'll be honest. I use a lot of Q-Tips. Almost every day, I accidentally smear my makeup around on my face and I need to fix it with a Q-Tip. The annoying thing is that my bathroom vanity is tiny. So, every day, I have to reach in the little cabinet underneath and feel around for the gigantic box of Q-Tips because it won't fit on the counter or anywhere more convenient.

But not anymore!

I played around and designed a teensy little crocheted Q-Tip holder! This little baby whips up in about 20 minutes and holds my Q-Tips conveniently within reach.

I used a small hook, F/5-3.75mm, so that the stitches would be really tight to give it some structure so it would stand up straight and not flop around.

I did not crochet this in continuous spirals. I tried that, but the top of it always looked a little wonky and not flat. So, instead, I used joined rounds, which you will see in the pattern below.

 

See! Even my cat, Penny wants a piece of this action! Haha!

She's soooo helpful when I'm doing my crochet photo shoots. She's sure everything is a toy just for her. What a princess.

Chunky Red Slouchy Beanie Crochet Pattern

About this pattern

Sized for women
Written in standard American crochet terms

Materials Required:
Size L/8 mm hook (or whichever hook you need to achieve the correct gauge)
Bulky weight red yarn
Stitch marker
Scissors

Crochet Skills Required:
Crocheting in the round
Magic circle/ring
Single crochet
Increase
Slip stitch

I love me a pom pom! Especially when it's attached to a soft, warm slouchy beanie.

This beanie is made using bulky weight yarn, so it's extra warm and the stitches look very chunky. It also works up super fast! You should be able to bust it out in two hours or less.

One Hour Tropical Breeze Beanie Crochet Pattern

Let this beanie warm you up like a tropical breeze!

I wasn't sure what to call this beanie after I made it. The yarn is called Sunny Day, but that just didn't quite feel right.

So, I put a picture of it on Facebook and asked for suggestions. I got a lot of great ones, but my favorite was from my mom! She's such a creative lady.

And so, I give you the One Hour Tropical Breeze Beanie!! *applause goes here*

Materials Required:

Size L/8 mm hook (or whichever hook you need to achieve the correct gauge)
Loops and Threads Charisma yarn in Sunny Day (yardage details in the pattern)
Stitch marker
Scissors

Crochet Skills Required:
Crocheting in the round
Magic circle/ring
Single crochet
Increase
Slip stitch

WIP Wednesday: Infinity Scarf

You don't need to spend much time in the crafting world before hearing the popular acronym WIP, which stands for Work In Progress. Honestly, I usually have at least three WIPs going on at once! Some of which are over a year old. Ooops.

So, I've decided to participate in the WIP Wednesday blog thread and start sharing them with you on Wednesdays, in hopes that I'll follow through and finally finish them. Because...Friday is FO (Finished Object) Friday. I'm hoping that posting this WIP on Wednesday will help me end up with an FO to post on Friday. 

This week's WIP is about 9 months old. Embarrassing, I know, but I'm sharing to help get out of this cycle! I made up a pattern for an infinity scarf and I made a couple last winter. Then, I got a new color of yarn to make a third scarf and decided to write down the pattern as I crocheted and create a new pattern to sell.

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Somehow, I got totally derailed on this scarf and pattern writing. I think I'll blame it on the holiday rush of beanies that I had to make at the same time. So, I recently found it my box of WIPs and decided it was time to finish it, write the pattern and make my dreams come true! ;)

The only problem that I had with re-starting this WIP is that I had forgotten the pattern that I was using! The bulky, bumpy nature of this yarn made it hard for me to see the stitches I had been doing to get this far.

Fortunately, I had a notebook of pattern ideas that I'd been writing. I looked back and it was one of the very first ones in the book. So, I was able to figure out what I had been doing that looked so nice and continue crocheting. So far, I think it's looking great!

Unfortunately, I lost the label from this yarn sometime in the last year, so I have no idea what it's called. I'm sure that I got it from Michaels so I can only hope that they still carry it!

The best news about this scarf pattern, is that it actually works up really quickly! So, now that I remembered the pattern, I should be able to finish it in time for FO Friday.

Do you have a WIP that's a year old or more? Do you think you'll ever finish it? Tell me about it in the comments and post a link if you've posted pictures!

Crochet Pattern: Gumdrop Baby Beanie

This week my brother Drew went to Pittsburgh to visit my other two brothers, Davey and Danny. I know, we're all D's, isn't that cute?

Anyway, Davey and his wife just had a new baby girl. Since I haven't seen her yet and I probably won't be able to meet her until we all go to Montana in July, I wanted to whip up a little something special for her so she knows that her auntie loves her. I was on deadline since I wanted to be able to finish her beanie in time to send it to Pittsburgh with Drew. Even though I was in a bit of a rush, I ended up being very happy with the result.

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Gumdrop Baby Beanie for my niece

I don't normally write baby patterns and I didn't intend to share this one. But when Drew delivered the hat to the family and my sister in law sent me a picture of my niece wearing it, I knew I needed to share the love and share the pattern.

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My niece at 2 weeks old. Adorbs!!

I'm feeling full of love looking at the pictures right now, so here's a free pattern for you!

Gumdrop Baby Beanie Crochet Pattern

Materials:

• G hook
• Red Heart Gumdrop yarn in Smoothie

Abbreviations Used:

• rnd - round
• mc/r - magic circle/magic ring
• ch - chain
• sc - single crochet
• sl st - slip stitch
• sts - stitches 
• dc - double crochet

Size: Newborn- 3 months

Pattern:

Rnd 1: mc/r, ch 1. Work 6 sc into the mc/r. Join with sl st. (6 sts)

Rnd 2: ch 2, 2 dc in same st. 2 dc in each st around. Join with a sl st. (12 sts)

Rnd 3-4: ch 2, 2 dc in same st, dc in next st. *2 dc in next st, dc in next st, repeat from * around (18 sts)

Rnd 5: ch 2, 2 dc in same st, dc in next 2 sts. *2 dc in next st, dc in next 2 sts, repeat from * around (24 sts)

Rnd 6-12: ch 2, dc in each st around (24 sts)

Fasten off and weave in the ends.

Make pom pom and sew on the top.

Note: When I start the rounds 2-12 of dc's with ch 2, I make the first chain a normal size and then I stretch the second chain so that it's about at the height of a dc. I don't count either of these chains as a st in the rnd. I do it this way because it makes less of a seam and rows look straighter. Try it and let me know how it goes!

P.S. I didn't get a chance to measure my gauge before I sent it off to Pittsburgh. So you'll have to play around with it a bit. Sorry! But the pattern is free so don't complain too much ;)